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Even if you're one of the folks who still hasn't seen the newest Marvel-Disney superhero blockbuster Iron Man 3 -- and really, what are you two waiting for? -- you've probably heard about the controversy sparked by certain twists in the film. While most of the world loved the film and are already pushing it toward a worldwide total of close to $1 billion by the end of next weekend (only it's third weekend in release), a small but loud scattering of fans have claimed they are being disrespected by changes made to some characters.

It would be easy for a filmmaker to ignore those complaints, in light of such amazing financial and critical success, with a film as excellent as Iron Man 3. However, director and co-writer Shane Black decided on a different approach. Instead of "get over it," he said, "let's talk about it." Black sat down with some upset fans on Tuesday night and heard them out, then engaged them in a serious, nuanced discussion and tried to find some common ground. Read on for details!

Muvico Theaters offered the amazing opportunity this week at the Thousand Oaks 14 & MuviXL in Thousand Oaks, just outside of Los Angeles. The event included a question and answer session with director Shane Black and young actor Ty Simpkins (who plays Harley in the movie) prior to a screening of Iron Man 3, as well as a autograph session in which everyone received a giant movie poster to be signed by the director and actor. They were friendly and funny, and the initial discussion was very interesting. I even had a chance to speak briefly with Black after the Q&A, and again later after the screening.

But after the film screening was over came the unexpected moment. As the audience began filing out, we were told Shane Black had stuck around and wanted to talk to us about the movie. Many people had younger kids and had to leave due to the late time, but a good portion remained to speak with the director. He immediately asked (I'm paraphrasing to avoid spoilers), "Who here was angry about the changes to some characters?" A few young guys raised their hands a bit timidly, so Black told them it was okay and to raise their hands so he could see who he should talk to. Then he asked them to talk to him about what bothered them, and he listened. The fans offered their complaints and criticisms of the film, and Black never once dismissed them or got rude with them.

Black explained the difficulties in adapting certain elements due to their origins and nature in the comics, and how hard it is to surprise audiences when so many of them will have read all the stories while the media publishes articles detailing the characters and sources of inspiration to the point of removing a lot of the surprises. He talked about the need to take characters and stories and approach them with a new perspective relevant to our modern world and modern events. Overcoming inherent problems with some characters and their backgrounds, making them fit into a story with modern relevance while turning our expectations on their heads and even surprising fans, is a pretty impressive -- and admirable -- set of goals. Even more significant is that it succeeded.

Well, my respect for Black jumped even higher after watching him reach out to the fan critics and try to have a dialogue with them, not to mention his excellent analysis of Tony Stark's character building suits as a way of creating different external versions of himself to tinker with while these personal problems pile up in his life.

It's a shame every fan making outrageous accusations about the film and claiming hyperbolic "injury" to the source material and themselves etc couldn't have been there to engage in this back and forth with Shane Black. It was great to see, and would go a long way toward helping other fans understand and appreciate the brilliance of what he accomplished in Iron Man 3.